


Unexpected Encounter (Stef 1)

by LemonTwist59



Category: Callisto 6 (Web Series), Geek & Sundry RPF
Genre: CallistoFics
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-02
Updated: 2018-09-02
Packaged: 2019-07-05 21:32:41
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,244
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15872136
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LemonTwist59/pseuds/LemonTwist59
Summary: A local discovers something weird inside a parked vehicle.  Spoilers for episode 2 of Callisto 6, a setting devised by Eric Campbell and Sam de Leve





	Unexpected Encounter (Stef 1)

Stef peered out of their hiding place at the new focus of local interest. Several years of living on their wits enabled them to detect the slight movements elsewhere around the parking lot as everyone awaited developments.

It was likely that The Shaved and Runeschaft were both represented out there, but Stef was determined that The Irregulars (as Stef privately named their band – more officially known as The Gophers due to their skill in running errands and making deliveries) would get any key information first. Information was power, information was currency; and currency or power were always useful.

With a subtle touch on Coomy's hair, Stef signalled her to stay there and stay low. Coomy showed promise, having been first on site as the mysterious vehicle had landed, and the first to get the message to Stef while still keeping a watch for anything happening. She was showing promise for a ten-year-old - Stef would keep an eye on her. Coomy acknowledged with a slight movement, and eased back deeper into the shadows.

Careful as always, Stef drifted gently around the parking lot in a move to confirm just who was present. Although the other 'communities' claimed the territory, no one knew the ground like The Gophers. It was part of the job - a messenger needed to know how to traverse the ground in a way that 'normal' folk need not. It only took a few moments to get to a corner from where they could detect the glistening scalp of Kemmer, the Shaved's nearest denizen. He was hiding as effectively as usual - in other words, not very - but already showing restive signs. Kemmer was not the most focussed of agents, and nothing had happened for minutes - he could just hear the audio from his prog, and it sounded like something lively was happenng. As Stef wondered how to best distract him, he decided that nothing was happening in the lot, plenty was happening on the prog, and Sheyman would never know if he nipped away for a few minutes. A few seconds later, and Stef's path was clear.

They ducked low and scampered across the lot, using the large vehicle as cover from whoever was watching from the far side. A practiced spin and brace as they dived under the stabilising fin enabled Stef to stop against the fuselage without a sound. They waited for a few seconds to see if there was any sign of life inside, but all they could hear was the last drone of the dying motors and the hiss and pop of cooling materials.

In those few seconds Stef ran though the events that had brought them here. It had been a normal day around Brent, and Stef had kept an eye on Bisbo, a noob Gopher, dismissing him as dusk fell. Then the vidreps about the Expo and/or Measure Z protests had turned lively, and there had been a report of bright flares at the rear of the Alpha ConCen. This had all drifted past Stef's attention - doings in Corporate L.A. rarely filtered down to this level - and Stef liked to read. Real books when available. And a few minutes later a message had arrived from Coomy.

A weird patrol car had dropped down into the lots, and Stef might be interested. Stef was. A rapid dash across the zone brought them to Coomy, who pointed out the target and brought them up to date. She had been returning from an errand when her attention had been drawn to a vehicle apparently on approach, sounding bassier than usual, and not using normal patrol car behaviour. It landed, then just sat there – which seemed really weird. Stef thought it over and eyed the bulky shape in the middle of the parking lot. Coomy was right. It was weird - in many ways.

Firstly, it was here at all. The vehicle was not a standard patrol car - far from it - and when patrol cars came to this area (which they often did, because the beats liked to throw their weight around where they could), they tended to approach in certain patterns, and this had not.

Secondly, the fact that it looked much bulkier and meaner than a patrol car - more like a military dropship, in fact. But what on earth would the military be doing here? And why were the few markings so low-key, as if to not be seen?

Thirdly, it was on the ground. Stef had seen enough newsvids to know that dropships like this would never land unless their pre-dropped taskforce had secured the area. Yet here it sat, with no external perimeter.

None of it made sense.

Easing round to the nose, Stef peered into the lower cockpit window. It was poorly lit inside, but the instrument displays illuminated empty seats. Stef glanced back to the access ramp, but there was no sign of movement and a second later they realised they would have heard the actuators. A slow straightening brought Stef up to peer in through the main canopy.

That's when weird got a whole new level.

In the rear of the dropship, behind the pilots' seats, six young civilians were gathered. That would have been odd in a military ship (although they might have been undercover), but it was what they were doing that was... well, to overuse the word, weird.

They were holding a heated conversation - nothing odd there - but one was a mature woman who was asian in appearance, tanned skin and black ponytailed hair, as she looked at her hands. The others were excited for some reason, and one brought up a holomirror and held it to her. As the asian woman glanced at it she changed, her skin flickering several shades paler and tightening to give a younger appearance, and her hair changed to a pale blonde bob. The excitement mounted, and the woman grasped the hand of one of the others – the blonde became rainbow spikes that matched the other. Then a dark crop. Then she grew a beard that resembled that on the man sat opposite. Then the man suddenly waved his arm as if it was a tentacle rather than a proper bony limb - although it was still tipped with a hand. And then he stretched his arm far beyond nature, and the formerly asian woman smiled as she wrapped that limb around her shoulder, although Stef found just the thought of that ’thing’ touching them really creepy.

Stef silently cursed their decision not to let Shamallar take their optics to that contact down in Raft City (they were called ‘Lady’ or ‘Lacy’ or something – apparently they were really cool with tech) to fix the memory, because they had just seen things no one would ever believe without pix (and possibly not even with that), and their optics were basically useless in this situation without memory.

Stef had seen some odd stuff thanks to cybernetics and holograms, but this was something else – it did not look faked, but it also did not look real, and as one figure sitting to the side handed out devices to the others, and they started to stir, Stef had had enough. They raced back to Coomy's hiding place, grabbed the child's shoulder, and ducked down to await developments.

"You'd never believe me," Stef muttered in response to Coomy's unasked question, then settled in to watch, and the fourteen-year-old wondered how to use this frankly ridiculous information to The Irregulars’ advantage.


End file.
